Hope for Haiti, Brown University student team up to bring medical know-how to Haiti
-Naplesnews.com
Brown University medical student Will Perez, center, teaches a first-aid lesson as part of a public health program during the summer of 2008 in Haiti. The students of the program and Perez visited a local clinic to practice their CPR and Heimlich Maneuvers skills. Perez has since teamed up with the Naples-based Hope for Haiti to implement the public health programs at a larger scope within the Caribbean nation. Photo courtesy of Will Perez.
NAPLES — Mike Stewart knows that getting a small cut in Haiti could mean the difference between life and death.
Stewart, the country director for Naples-based nonprofit Hope for Haiti, said preventive care is a necessity for residents who might not have easy access to a doctor or a hospital.
“Prevention saves so much in the long run,” he said. “A minor cut that is untreated can lead to tetanus. A minor cold can turn into pneumonia.”
Hope for Haiti’s mission has always been about helping Haitians lead better lives, particularly with education and medical initiatives. Now, with the help of a 24-year-old Rhode Island medical student, the organization is looking to take that next step _ educating Haitians about preventive health care.
Hope for Haiti was approached for the project by Will Perez, a 24-year-old Brown University medical student. Perez, who was living and working at Proje Espwa orphanage in Les Cayes, Haiti, in 2008-09, met Stewart and Hope for Haiti’s Vice President Tiffany Kuehner when he was living and working in the country.
“We would have meetings in the Hope for Haiti house,” he said. “They would give me medical supplies.”
Perez’s idea was to create a program to empower Haitians to identify and address issues like first aid, nutrition and malaria eradication within their community to better public health.
“The main (issues) we’re dealing with come from dirty water, hygiene issues and sanitation. We are talking about villages with no doctors to speak of,” said Will Perez, a 24-year-old Brown University medical student. “We want to train the Haitian youth to become health leaders in their communities because there are no doctors.”
“The main (issues) we’re dealing with come from dirty water, hygiene issues and sanitation. We are talking about villages with no doctors to speak of,” he said. “We want to train the Haitian youth to become health leaders in their communities because there are no doctors.”
Perez’s timing was perfect, as Hope for Haiti was embarking on its own public health initiative, a community health outreach to be implemented at 25 primary schools.
“We have been putting out fires for so long, it is nice to be to a place where we can focus on public health,” Kuehner said. “I think the idea of bringing preventive care to Cayes is exciting.”
Since starting the initiative, more than 2,500 children and families have been educated in hygiene, clean water and the importance of Vitamin A in Hope for Haiti’s primary schools, according to the organization. About 6,000 Vitamin A pills, de-worming medication, prenatal and multivitamins have been distributed among the 25 schools, according to Hope for Haiti.
Kuehner said Perez’s program was a good supplement to what Hope for Haiti was already trying to do.
“Our program was so successful, we were looking for a way to build on it,” she said. “We can be the ones who implement Will’s plan because he is still in medical school. It is the best way to leverage our resources.”
Kuehner said the first order of business was to adapt Perez’s training manual to Hope for Haiti’s needs. Perez had designed his training
For more information on relief efforts still going on in Haiti:
■ American Red Cross: To find out more of the American Red Cross’ efforts in Haiti visit www.redcross.org/Haiti.
■ Hope for Haiti: To find out more of Hope for Haiti’s ongoing efforts in Haiti, visit the nonprofit’s office at 1021 Fifth Ave. N. in Naples or call (239) 434-7183. Visit www.hopeforhaiti.com.
■Nehemiah Evangelical Church: To find out more of the church’s efforts in Haiti, go to www.thenem.org or call (239) 304-8648.
program around the Proje Espwa orphanage and the manual needed to be adapted to work with schools and local communities, Kuehner said.
Perez, who hopes to continue working in Haiti after he graduates _ practicing “political medicine” _ flew to Les Cayes earlier this month to meet with Hope for Haiti’s community nurses. They had nine days to work on the 100-page training manual, which will be used to train community workers in everything from how to treat malaria to CPR.
“We want to make them the most adaptable and the most sustainable that we can,” he said.
The plan, Perez said, is that community leaders chosen by their villages will participate in the program. For six months, they will come to a central location once a month to be trained in one aspect of the public health manual.
“After three or four days, they will go back to their villages. It will be up to them to make presentations and give speeches and talks,” he said. “It will all be documented. Every month they will come, learn the material, go back and teach it to the people in their villages.”
Kuehner said editing of the manual is continuing and will be approved by Hope for Haiti’s health-care director, Dr. Steeve Victory, and the organization’s board before the program is implemented.
Last month, Perez was one of five young social entrepreneurs chosen as a finalist for the Do Something Awards, which aired on VH1, Comcast cable 23, and honors the best young world-changers under 25. Perez received a $10,000 grant and was up for the $100,000 prize, which he was going to use to help Hope for Haiti implement his program. Although he didn’t win, Perez said the notoriety has been good for his cause.
“It’s great to keep Haiti in the limelight like this,” he said. “The Wyclef thing (Haitian musician Wyclef Jean was denied a run for the presidency by the Haitian government) has been taking precedence. Everyone wants to know about Wyclef. The Do Something Awards has allowed me to show people the public health programs and the effect they’ve had and how they’ve grown. It’s really exciting to see where this is going to go.”
